Break In
by Blue Obsidian Butterfly
Summary: "See you around" Root saunters out and Shaw rolls her eyes, picking up another doughnut. Yeah, she would be seeing her neighbour again. Shoot AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Not mine :(**

Shaw is yanked out of sleep by a scraping sound at her front door and she groans, reaching under her pillow for the spare glock she keeps on hand in case of emergency. She figures getting woken up at three am counts. After a moment of searching she grasps it, switching the safety off as she throws the covers back and flips on the light, blinking rapidly as it fills the room. She pauses, listing carefully and the sounds grow louder, the distinct sound of a key scraping a lock. Whoever was trying to break in obviously doesn't know her very well.

She moves silently through the living room and the sounds stop just as she's nearing the door. There's a muttered curse and Shaw slowly approaches, unlocking the door as silently as she can. She swings it open, pointing the gun at where the would-be intruder should be except no-one's there. Whoever it was is fast but not subtle she notes, tilting her head to the side as she listens to the clomping noise of high heels retreating down the hall.

There's only one person on her floor those could belong to.

Normally the person who woke her up would have hell to pay but it's late (or extremely early depending on your opinion) and she's too damn tired so instead she goes back inside, checking the locks twice but she doubts they would be back anytime soon.

Even criminals have to sleep sometime.

She flops onto her bed, forgoing her usual grace and is asleep within minutes, gun still in her hand. Let them try something now.

The next time Shaw wakes it's light outside and no-one is trying to break in. She takes that as a good sign, going through her regular morning routine. It isn't until she's about to go out for a run that she finds an envelope tucked under the door. She debates going to get her gun before deciding it would be overkill and she picks it up, tearing the envelope open as she pulls out a sheet of paper.

It's a letter, a page of delicately loopy handwriting which she doesn't recognise. Briefly she wonders if it's her colleague John playing a prank on her but she doubts it, that's more her style than his. A small smirk pulls up the corners of her lips as she remembers the (epic in her opinion) prank she pulled on her boss Finch and his police liaisons from the NYPD. Unfortunately she had to bring John into it in order for it to work but blue paint, feathers, packing beans and a well placed charge of explosives could be so much fun sometimes.

She reads through the letter pretty quickly and by the end she knows her original assumption about the high-heel wearing (and apparently mail reading since the note addresses her by name) woman down the hall is indeed behind the attempted break in.

Except it wasn't a break in according to the letter. Apparently she was drunk and had the wrong apartment. Shaw could almost believe that except the woman had managed to flee in high heels while drunk, which either meant she had some serious talent or she was lying. And besides that, if memory served correctly her neighbour had some serious height over her as is so why wear heels? Then again if she was really trying to break in Shaw doubted she would do it in stilettos. She ponders it for a moment but decides it isn't worth her time and puts the letter aside, putting her iPod on shuffle as she goes out for her run.

There's a bright pink sticky note on her door when she gets back and this time she recognises the handwriting from the letter. She snatches it off the door, mildly annoyed the woman had the audacity to leave a brightly coloured note on her door where anyone could see.

Before she even reads the note her eyes catch the word doughnuts and her stomach rumbles. She quickly reads the rest and annoyance is replaced by hunger. Her neighbour must really feel bad because according to the note she would be back at nine fifteen with a box of fresh doughnuts from the bakery down the street, which just so happened to be Shaw's favourite. She decides that perhaps the woman isn't so bad and besides, she isn't going to turn down free doughnuts. She checks the time on her iPod, noting her usual route took two minutes less and there's just enough time for a quick shower.

True to her word there's a tentative knock at her door at precisely nine fifteen. Shaw has just finished getting dressed and she can smell the delicious baked goods even before she opens the door.

There aren't many things in life better than hot doughnuts except maybe the new rocket launcher Finch recently got for the team (meaning herself and John, she had already threatened broken fingers if anyone else so much as thought about touching it.) It takes a moment for her eyes to travel from the bakery box to her neighbour, a tall brunette who greats her with a nervous smile that somehow manages to be mischievous at the same time.

"I'm so sorry about last night and I hope you can forgive me. I didn't know what sort you like so I got one of everything and hopefully you like doughnuts because who doesn't but I got you a bear claw as well just in case" she babbles, her words rushed. Shaw studies her a moment and she gives a hesitant smile, biting her lip. She's impressed: she knows she can be pretty intimidating but the woman holds her ground. She's so tall Shaw has to look up at her but she's too used to it to be irritated.

"I'm Shaw but you already know that" she says, gauging the woman's reaction. She blushes, transferring the box to one hand as she holds out the other.

"Sorry, I like to know who my neighbours are, safety and all that. I'm Root." Shaw sakes her hand, which is warm from holding the box. As much as she would like to interrogate her further she's hungry and since she frequently has her colleague Cole run background checks on her neighbours she can hardly hold it against her.

She takes the box, almost moaning in pleasure when she opens it to find a dozen doughnuts plus the promised bear claw. She's impressed, which is not an easy thing to accomplish and she lets Root in, placing the open box on the table as she selects a glazed doughnut. It's so fresh it practically melts in her mouth and she decides she likes her neighbour and, more importantly wonders if she can convince her to come over with doughnuts every week.

She takes a moment to study Root as she's eating. She's wearing skinny jeans and boots which thankfully don't have heels. Her hair falls over her shoulders in loose waves, her plain black jacket outlining her figure perfectly. Root in turn runs her eyes over Shaw but it's more flirty than anything else. Shaw rolls her eyes and she receives and entirely different smile in reply.

"So what do you do besides attempted break ins?" She asks, licking the remnants of doughnut off her fingers. Root swallows, pulling her eyes away and she smirks slightly.

"Freelance computer work mostly though I do enjoy the occasional trespass" she replies, her tone flirty. Normally it would annoy Shaw plus casual conversations were not something she would usually bother with but she's been lulled by the food and Root was tolerable, perhaps even interesting.

"So in other words you're a hacker" she's spent enough time around Cole to recognise the signs and the way Root's eyes widen in surprise proves her right. She wondered how the background check missed it but she supposes she shouldn't be surprised.

"What about you?" Root asks.

"Private security" she replies, the best description she can come up with for her job. Mostly it involved shooting kneecaps and protecting people depending on the clients, which Finch was always careful to vet. She nods and Shaw, unable to resist the smell picks up another doughnut. Seeing she was occupied Root takes the opportunity to look around the apartment, which John had described as sparse the one time she let him in. He ended up eating all her girl scout cookies, she would never make that mistake again no matter how many steak dinners he tried to bribe her with.

"You know, I'm kind of glad it was your apartment and not Mr Stinky's I mistook for mine" Root says and Shaw laughs around her bite of doughnut.

"I swear that guy never washes" she replies and Root nods in agreement. The one time she had come across her smelly neighbour from across the hall she had considered doing the world a favour by simply shooting him, it was that bad.

"Exactly, plus you're much better looking" Shaw gives her a look but it holds no real bite and Root's smile goes somewhere beyond flirty that Shaw doesn't care to analyse but she's pretty sure means she'll be seeing her neighbour again. She finds that, oddly enough she's ok with that. There's a first time for everything apparently.

"I'm starting to think you have an ulterior motive" Shaw says. Her tone remains casual but the look on her face indicates she expects a truthful answer. No-one could ever accuse Shaw of not being intimidating.

"I confess" Root replies, leaning into her personal space. Shaw holds her ground, raising an eyebrow in question.

"I've seen you around and I really", her eyes drop to Shaw's lips as she licks her own. When she looks back up her eyes are dark and Shaw watches her carefully. "Really wanted to meet you." She reaches around her and grabs a doughnut, taking a delicate bite much smaller than Shaw's.

"See you around" she saunters out and Shaw rolls her eyes, picking up another doughnut.

Yeah, she would be seeing her neighbour again.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Shaw sees her neighbour it's two days after the great neighbourhood dispute of the third floor started wherein the overweight woman of 3B (who never wears deodorant) decided she'd had enough of Mr Stinky and left a rather rude note spray painted on his door. He retaliated, Shaw's not quite sure what with but she could still smell the obnoxious odour that could only be something he'd cooked up.

Her apartment was unfortunately one of the three that happened to be in-between the two which is the reason Root now stood at her door, offering her apartment up as refuge. She almost said yes but Sameen Shaw is stubborn and she isn't about to be pushed out of her own apartment by a man who had never seen soap and a woman who didn't understand the concept of deodorant even if Root's apartment was right at the end of the hall and thus out of the war zone. At this point she wasn't sure if it was bravery of stupidity that kept her there.

"It'll be fun" Root says with a smile that shows exactly what kind of fun the hacker is referring to. Once Shaw's mind is made up there is little that can change it and as intriguing as Root is she doesn't qualify.

"Probably but somehow I don't think it's a good idea" she replies and Root pouts. Shaw can't decide if it's endearing or annoying so she settles for rolling her eyes.

"Maybe next time." The gleam that appears in Root's eyes makes her wonder if next time is going to come sooner than she thinks. She should really expect it; that's what happens when your neighbour is a perky psycho hacker with no sense of personal boundaries, something she was learning the hard way.

"Next time then." Root walks away before Shaw can offer up a reply so she shrugs as she closes the door.

* * *

It's later that afternoon when the yelling starts. Apparently the Woman of 3B was upping the ante and Mr Stinky was not happy about it nor was he shy about vocalising his displeasure. Shaw was trying very hard not to hear what they were saying but the noise was enough to disturb her hour long internet search for the best steak in New York City and it was starting to give her a headache.

She groans, closing her laptop and stretching her hands above her head. She eyes her headphones, which she'd left lying on the kitchen counter, wondering if she could drown out the noise without compromising her hearing. Probably not if the shouts of obscenities coming through the paper thin walls are any indication. If this keeps up she's going to go out there and give them a piece of her mind (and probably her fist as well) but as suddenly as it had started the noise stops.

She listens carefully for a moment but nothing else happens and she cautiously pokes her head out the door. Two doors slam shut just as she does including that of 3B. Root is standing in the middle of the hallway and as soon as she catches sight of her she smiles brightly. Shaw inwardly groans, of course she would have something to do with this.

"Hey sweetie" she chirps cheerfully, walking past Shaw into her apartment without an invitation. Shaw's mildly surprised she doesn't just pick the lock and invite herself in whenever she feels like it, in fact she probably has at some point.

Shaw shuts the door and turns, ready to deliver a scathing retort because if there's one thing she's not it's sweet but before she can even open her mouth Root speaks.

"I got sick of the noise, I could hear it all the way from my bedroom" she explains. If the set up of her apartment is the same as Shaw's her bedroom would be at the back and if she's right it's a fair distance. If it had gone on much longer someone would have probably called the police though in this neighbourhood they would take their sweet time getting here.

"What did you say to them?" she asks, mildly curious. Root's smirk is devious and more than a little self satisfied.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she practically purrs as she says it and Shaw rolls her eyes.

"I asked didn't I?" she replies but Root isn't deterred at all and Shaw watches her carefully as she makes her way closer, stopping just shy of touching. Shaw holds her ground, looking up at her.

"I'll make a deal with you: there's a new restaurant that just opened up nearby and I hear their steak is excellent. Let me take you to dinner and I'll tell you."

Two thoughts cross Shaw's mind at the same time, the first being she's pretty sure Root had been hacking her laptop (Cole would not be happy since he's the one who set it up in the first place) and the second is that she's ninety percent certain making any kind of deal with Root is the equivalent of making a deal with the devil, in other words a very bad idea. There was the lure of steak involved, steak that sounded half decent (Root isn't the only one who can read online reviews) and since she had already figured out Root is at least a little bit crazy (probably more like a lot) hacking her laptop really wasn't that big of a deal. She should really get Cole to check thought, just in case.

"Fine but you're buying" she says, part of her regretting it when Root's face lights up.

"It's not dinner time yet though so shoo, come back around six." Surprisingly Root nods and shows herself out, leaving Shaw wondering exactly what she's getting herself into.

* * *

At exactly six o'clock there's a knock on her door and Shaw shakes her head in amusement. At least Root is punctual. She's just finished putting on her go to little black dress and she takes out her ponytail as she makes her way to the door. Of course as soon as she opens it Root looks her up and down, her expression telling her just how much she likes her outfit. Shaw would roll her eyes except the dark blue dress Root's wearing hugs her perfectly and the hem barely reaches mid-thigh, revealing long creamy legs, matching heels adorning her feet and her hair falling over her shoulders in loose waves. Shaw has to admit she looks good.

"Ready to go?" she asks and Shaw nods, pausing to lock the door and toss her keys into the small black clutch Zoe had given her at some point which fits her keys, phone and nano perfectly.

The restaurant isn't far so they decide to walk and Root remains blissfully silent the entire time. It isn't until they're seated at a table in the lavishly decorated restaurant and Root still hasn't made a single flirty remark or sexual innuendo that Shaw becomes concerned. She nudges Root gently, drawing her attention away from the window.

"What's the matter Eeyore?" she asks. A smile briefly crosses Root's face but it disappears far too quickly for her liking.

"I didn't think you cared" Root replies sadly causing Shaw to frown.

"Cared about what?" she asks and Root hesitates for a moment before replying.

"Anything other than the food." Shaw gives her a look that she hopes says everything she doesn't know how to say aloud. Root's been good at reading her so far.

"I don't dress up for just anyone you know." That earns her another smile but this one remains in place.

"I must be pretty lucky then" Root replies, her flirtatious tone returning. Shaw's getting used to it, so much so she doesn't bother rolling her eyes.

"Well you did go to a lot of trouble to set this up or are we still pretending you didn't have anything to do with the war between Mr Stinky and Miss Deodorant free?" The shocked look on Root's face pleases Shaw far more than it should and she takes a sip of her drink to hide her expression.

"How do you know about that?" she asks and if Shaw's not mistaken there's a hint of admiration in her voice.

"The same way I know you hacked my laptop and engineered the whole mistaken apartment thing. If you want to go out with me all you have to do is ask."

"But then you wouldn't have gotten doughnuts" Root points out and Shaw nods.

"True."

"So where do we go from here?" Root asks.

"Well I'm going to eat my steak, let you buy me dessert and then we'll see if your luck holds. Oh and if you ever break into my apartment again I'll shoot you." Up until now she hadn't been sure of the last part but the guilty look on Root's face tells her everything she needs to know.

Root is most definitely crazy but, Shaw supposes as their food arrives the crazy ones are always the best in bed and besides, Root really does look good in that dress.


End file.
